Sunday, June 30, 2013

Healthy Organic Cafe in Singapore: The Real Food @ The Central

I'm in search for some real good food made with fresh ingredients and my persistence of sticking to organic cafes when meeting friends has brought me to this vegan and healthy-living lifestyle cafe at Clarke Quay.

I've walked past this cafe a couple of times whenever I frequent the basement area in The Central mall but it has never come across to me as an organic vegan-friendly cafe that serves a western menu: all-day breakfasts, sandwiches,pastas, noodles,brown rice, desserts, fresh juices, soups and salads. In fact, I thought it was just another regular cafe serving coffee and cakes. So this time, I was glad to find out that this cafe is in fact a hidden gem for vegans,vegetarians and health junkies.

You will not only find real food served fresh out of the kitchen but also books, organic beauty products as well as organic food products. It's a cafe, grocer as well as a bookstore just for those who appreciate eating clean. Be rest assured that the food served here is free from processed ingredients, artificial preservatives and trans-fat. One last thing you need to note is that this cafe is meat-free! Dear carnivores, how about a switch in diet? Veggies could taste really good too.

Talking of meaningfulness, there's nothing more meaningful than to dine at such cafes which support ethical farming practices. They are pretty meticulous about sourcing for 'ethical' food from raw food producers and farms that do not succumb to any unethical acts or means of producing food for money.

Here's our green food. Everything on the table looks green. Though we look like cows grazing in the fields,chewing on grass, at least we are eating exceptional delicious food which were painstakingly made from scratch in the kitchen. Nothing tasted better than eating food in it's purest state just like this plate of salad below which come with their homemade salad dressings - fresh lemon juice and organic olive with an added pinch of salt for taste.

Their menu is very informative with food items being listed as either gluten-free, wheat-free or vegan-friendly with a list of ingredients clearly stated right underneath each menu item so that you know what you're eating and what goes into your body.

The portions here aren't too huge, providing you with just the right amount to make you feel 70 percent full. And price-wise, the cost of each meal items hovers around 10 bucks. That's not too bad for an organic meal which uses high quality wholesome ingredients filled with natural goodness.

Classic Green Salad ( SGD $7.80)

It's a gluten free salad that consists of fresh greens with olives, cherry tomatoes, baby radish and avocado slices. It's topped with roasted nuts with a dash of balsamic vinegar, lemon and oil.

Genovese Pesto Pasta ($9.80)

This organic pasta is tossed with homemade organic pesto, grilled courgettes (or zucchini), olives and boiled potatoes topped with crumbled feta cheese and fresh basil leaves. It's a pleasant-tasting pasta with just the right amount of pesto sauce added so that it isn't too dry.

Green slow-pressed power juices

We ordered 2 glasses of wheatgrass apple and 1 glass of spinach carrot apple. Here, they use the twin gear slow speed vegetable extractor to extract all the goodness out. The prices of fruit juices here is between SGD 6 to 7. Drinking 8 oz of 100% fresh and pure juice with no added sugar or ice is toasting your body to good health.

Organic French Toast with banana and blueberries ( SGD8.80 )

This item was listed as one of the all-day breakfast sets but it's a non-vegan kind of dish due to the presence of egg. Right here, we have artisan egg toast with blueberries and bananas drizzled with organic agave. (Agave is a sweetener made commercially from the plant called agave and it's a popular substitute for sugar. It's much sweeter than honey!) But this organic french toast is a hands-down for me! It's perfect for an after-meal dessert.

This had to be one of my first organic meals in Singapore and I do truly enjoy such green organic meals. My hunt for green food starts right here...

Deenise Glitz

About the Author

I find beauty in words and photographs that could be used to express myself, my past as well as present. This is just a lil' corner for me to share my love for music, travel, health, fitness, beauty, fashion as well as my boundless fascinations over the little things in life from musicals to the latest events happening in town. Hi, I'm Deenise, the girl with the double letter E. There ain't no spelling error.